Business

By Riza Lozada The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) reported a net income of P164.73 million in the first quarter of 2016, down by 13.9 percent from a year ago, due mainly to lower trading-related income and service fees as the stock market registered lower total value turnover during the quarter. 

Listed Phoenix Semiconductor Philippines Corp. (PSPC) has signed with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung) and SFA Semicon Co., Ltd (SSK), formerly known as STS Semiconductor Telecommunications Co., Ltd., (STS) a master agreement for the production of memory chips for Samsung of South Korea.

Diversified engineering company Megawide Construction Corp. (Megawide) increased its first-quarter net income by 55 percent driven mainly by its core construction business. 

Communications giant Globe Telecom’s mobile data revenues continued to underpin growth in the first three months of the year amid continuing demand for data services and the popularity of data-driven products and applications. 

Former directors and officers of the failed LBC Development Bank Inc. (LBC Bank) were charged in a new round of criminal cases due to unsound practices that sent the lender into bankruptcy, according to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).

PNB Savings Bank has launched the country’s first digital and mobile-lending facility, targeted at pensioners of the government’s Social Security System (SSS) and powered by a platform called Lendr, which was developed by PLDT digital innovations unit Voyager Innovations. 

By Riza Lozada Corporate regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the International Finance Corp. (IFC) of the World Bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to strengthen the country’s regulatory framework and corporate governance practices.

Diversified Asian conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC) reported that its first-quarter profit soared more than twofold to P13.5 billion, driven by its core food, beverage and packaging businesses. 

The Department of Energy (DOE) has approved the revised rules for the electricity spot market that that expanded the authority of technical committee of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) to detect incidences of violation of trading rules and distortion to the spot market, whether intended or not. 

PAL Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries reported a total comprehensive income of P2.7 billion for the quarter of its fiscal year ending March 31 representing a P1 billion decrease from the same quarter in 2015.